[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 117 (Thursday, July 24, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 41--DENOUNCING THE USE OF CIVILIANS AS 
 HUMAN SHIELDS BY HAMAS AND OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS IN VIOLATION 
                   OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

  Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 41

       Whereas the term ``human shields'' refers to the use of 
     civilians, prisoners of war, or other noncombatants whose 
     mere presence is designed to protect combatants and objects 
     from attack;
       Whereas the use of human shields violates international 
     humanitarian law (also referred to as the Law of War or Law 
     of Armed Conflict);
       Whereas Additional Protocol I, Article 50(1) to the Geneva 
     Convention defines ``civilian'' as, ``[a]ny person who does 
     not belong to one of the categories of persons referred to in 
     Article 4(A)(1), (2), (3), and (6) of the Third Convention 
     and in Article 43 of this Protocol. In the case of doubt 
     whether a person is a civilian, that person shall be 
     considered a civilian.'';
       Whereas Additional Protocol I, Article 51(7) to the Geneva 
     Convention states, ``[T]he presence or movement of the 
     civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used 
     to render certain points or areas immune from military 
     operations, in particular in attempts to shield military 
     objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede 
     military operations. The Parties to the conflict shall not 
     direct the movement of the civilian population or individual 
     civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives 
     from attacks or to shield military operations.'';
       Whereas, since June 15, 2014, there have been over 2,000 
     rockets fired by Hamas and other terrorist organizations from 
     Gaza into Israel;
       Whereas Hamas uses civilian populations as human shields by 
     placing its underground tunnel network and missile batteries 
     in densely populated areas, and in and around schools, 
     hospitals, and mosques;
       Whereas Israel drops leaflets, makes announcements, places 
     phone calls and sends text messages to the Palestinian people 
     in Gaza warning them in advance that an attack is imminent, 
     and goes to extraordinary lengths to target only terrorist 
     actors;
       Whereas Hamas has urged the residents of Gaza to ignore the 
     Israeli warnings and to remain in their houses and has 
     encouraged Palestinians to gather on the roofs of their homes 
     to act as human shields; and
       Whereas Hamas, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Al-Shabaab, Islamic 
     State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other foreign 
     terrorist organizations typically use innocent civilians as 
     human shields: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) strongly condemns the brutal and illegal tactic by 
     Hamas and other terrorist organizations of using innocent 
     civilians as human shields;
       (2) calls on the international community to recognize the 
     grave breaches of international law committed by Hamas in 
     using human shields;
       (3) places responsibility for launching the rocket attacks 
     on Hamas and other terrorist organizations, such as Islamic 
     Jihad, in Gaza;
       (4) supports the sovereign right of the Government of 
     Israel to defend its territory and stop the rocket attacks on 
     its citizens;
       (5) expresses condolences to the families of the innocent 
     victims on both sides of the conflict;
       (6) supports Palestinian civilians who reject Hamas and all 
     forms of terrorism, desiring to live in peace with their 
     Israeli neighbors; and
       (7) calls on Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the use of innocent 
     civilians as human shields by Hamas and other terrorist 
     organizations.

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